Is there an easier way for guests to leave a review than with google?

My question is with regards my guests leaving Reviews on Google and also is there an easier way for them to leave a review than with google? How do other business operators get on?

Email recently from one of my guests: “I am having trouble publishing the Google review. I click on the rating to give 5 highlighted stars but it will not save’ that rating nor when I type text in the field will it allow me to select the ‘publish’ button.”

These are the steps I’ve been giving my guests.

Google to: http://maps.google.com.au

Type “bunya vista accommodation dalby” into the search box

You will see the listing for “Bunya Vista Accommodation Dalby” coming up on the left side of the page

By looking at the listing, under the phone number you will see the number of reviews that have already been created by past customers

Click on the reviews

You will be taken to the reviews page:

Click on “Write a review”

Login with your Google Account (you might need to create one if you don’t have it already)

Community Answers

The process i have previously outlined for posting a review on Google Places is still valid (I have gone through it myself and it works fine)

Users have also the opportunity to write a review for your business by using the new Google feature called “Google Hotpot”

Hotpot is basically a social review system that lets your customers give an overall rating for your businesses when they find it on Google Maps, more specific thumbs-up or thumbs-down ratings for particular aspects, and the option to leave detailed write-ups for others to consider. By adding friends to their Hotpot account, users also get tailored recommendations based on their tips. Likewise, the more they rate, the more tailored returned results are to their tastes.

Therefore, when you ask for reviews to your customers, you can etiher ask to write in on Google Maps (by Following the instructions above) or directly with Google Hotpot.

Also in the unlikely case that your guests experience any issue when trying to publish a review directly on the Google Places page (as you mentioned), I would suggest them to go to google.com/hotpot and login with their Google account. THEN they can search for “Dalby Qld Accommodation”. When it comes up, they can click on it. It will take he/she back to the Place page from Google maps, but now the review function is activated and he/she will be able to post the review from there (there seems to be a bug that does not allow for reviews to be posted unless the user is also in Hotpot).

Google has also released a Google Places app for iPhone, that has Hotpot integrated, which makes it even easier for guests to leave a review on-the-go. Therefore you might even ask guests who own an iPhone to download the Google Places app on their iPhone and write a review of your business. You can find more information about the Google Places iPhone application directly on their blog.

Finally, apart of Google Places and Google Hotpot, your customers can write a review also on one of the following websites:

The reviews written on these websites have an impact on your rankings and in some cases they can also show up directly in the Google results page, therefore it is very important to make sure that they are good in order to positively influence the user when he/she is still in the “searching mode”.

I hope my answers are clear Jenny. If you require further information or explanation, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to assist you.